Date: Friday, September 4, 2026
Time: at 3:00 PM
Location: West-Kruiskade 54, De Leeuwenhoek nursing home
On Friday, September 4, at 3:00 PM, we celebrate the return of the mural. Ode to Salvador Allende by Chilean artist Jorge Kata Núñez on the facade of nursing home De Leeuwenhoek on West-Kruiskade. Due to the heat at the end of June, the unveiling was postponed at the last minute, and there is now a new date. You are cordially invited!
About the artwork
The work was executed in 1999 by Atelier Leo Mineur and was removed in late 2023 due to the poor condition of the panels. In April of this year, Jorge Kata Núñez traveled from Chile to Rotterdam to spend three months here, where he created a new version of the painting in a studio in Vlaardingen.
On September 11, 1973, Salvador Allende was overthrown during a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, in which he was killed. In the years that followed, many Chileans came to Rotterdam as political exiles, where they formed the basis of diverse initiatives, artworks, and events. This multifaceted solidarity movement developed primarily in the 1970s and 1980s, with André van der Louw as a central figure, and was also visible within the Rotterdam art community. Although political wall activism had already developed earlier in Chile, partly through painting brigades that used art as a means of political communication and collective organization, this practice found fertile ground in Rotterdam.
After Jorge Kata Núñez was deported to the Netherlands for political reasons in 1977, he founded the mural brigade Ramona Parra (BRP), through which he supported solidarity actions for Chile and demanded an end to the Pinochet dictatorship. In the Netherlands, he developed a politically engaged artistic practice, primarily consisting of graphic work and murals. Many of the Chilean murals have been lost over the years. It is special and significant that this tribute to Allende is returning to the city center. His vision of a more just society, based on democracy, solidarity, and social equality, remains relevant today.
About the programme
There is a substantive program during the meeting. with speakers Juan Heinsohn Huala, Lotfi El Hamidi, and Ove Lucas. Elma Oosthoek will host, there is mmusic and there are delicious empanadas.
Ode to Salvador Allende is made possible by Woonstad Rotterdam, Woonbron, Stichting Humanitas, Chileense Gemeenschap Rotterdam, Petit 3D Techniek, MaakNet and BKOR.
